The Army did not release the name of a fifth soldier who survived and walked away from the accident with minimal injuries.

A memorial service for family, friends and soldiers is planned Tuesday at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah.

The soldiers were assigned to the 3rd Battalion of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment at Hunter Army Airfield. Known as the Night Stalkers, the elite unit uses Chinooks to fly special operations forces behind enemy lines under cover of night.

Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Manfred L. Little said the unit's thoughts and prayers were with the soldiers' families.

"We take all safety precautions necessary to protect our crew, whether in training or combat," he said in a prepared statement. "Unfortunately, in the aviation profession, there is no level of planning, training, type of equipment or amount of resources that can completely prevent such tragic accidents from occurring."

Families mourn loved ones

Among them, the four soldiers had served 22 tours of duty to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Wright, the pilot, had 23 years of service in the Air Force and Army, and had received two Bronze Stars and an Air Medal for Valor. He served four combat deployments to Afghanistan and two in Iraq.

"Michael believed his choice of service for our country was meaningful and right," said his wife, Judy Wright, and other family members in a statement provided by the Army. They declined media interviews.

"He loved what he was doing, he knew the risks and he was proud to be a soldier fighting so others wouldn't have to. He made us all very proud."

Meek's wife, Alissa, and other family members also said in a statement. They described the helicopter repairman and flight engineer as "smart, gifted and innovative."

Meeks joined the Army in 2002 and deployed to Afghanistan three times.

"He has touched all of our lives in ways we can never forget," the family's statement read. "Even in the face of danger, he showed courage and bravery as well as a keen sense of humor."

Hall's mother, Lynda Hall, said in a statement that her son "took great pride in being the best soldier he could be."

Hall, an aircraft structural repairman, joined the Army in 2000 and served four deployments in Afghanistan and two in Iraq.

"Our heartfelt prayers go out to the other families in the very same situation, as well as to those families of all our brave service men and women," her statement read.

Erberich, a helicopter repairman and flight engineer, joined the Army in 2001 and had deployed six times to Iraq and once to Afghanistan.

No family statement was provided, and his wife declined comment when contacted Saturday.

Investigation begins

The accident occurred during a routine training flight from Savannah to the Army's helicopter training school at Fort Rucker, Ala.

Army investigators were at the crash site Friday, trying to determine why a special operations aircraft equipped to navigate precisely at low altitudes and in the dark clipped a wire on a television tower in broad daylight and then broke apart and burned in a southwest Georgia field.

"The investigation has started in earnest," said Lisa Eichhorn, a Fort Rucker spokeswoman. "They're ... trained to do this kind of work. They're going to do a very thorough job, and they're not putting any time constraints on it."

The MH-47 has special equipment that allows the helicopter to fly low-altitude night missions with "pinpoint navigation accuracy," according to the Special Operations Command.

According to the National Weather Service, visibility was 10 miles with light winds and a 1,300-foot ceiling in Albany, the nearest reporting site, about the time of the 8 a.m. crash.

The Chinook went down in the northwestern corner of Colquitt County after snagging a wire on a 1,000-foot TV tower belonging to WFXL, the Fox affiliate in Albany. Pieces of the aircraft scattered over a wide area, some landing in the yard of a nearby resident.

Michael Ford, a crop-duster from Doerun, said there were low clouds when he began spraying crops about 6:30 as the sun came up. He returned to his landing strip about 90 minutes later and learned of the crash from another crop-duster.

Ford said he jumped back in his plane and flew over the crash site.

"You couldn't see anything but fire," he said. "It was just a big ball of fire."

The WFXL tower is about 150 yards from a similar tower that belongs to Albany's NBC affiliate, WALB. That tower was not damaged. Both were equipped with mandatory warning lights.

"It's not hard to see those TV towers," said Ford, who often flies at 100 to 300 feet. "But you've got to watch out for all these new cell phone towers.

"Really and truly, I don't see how they hit it, unless they were above the clouds and decided to come through the clouds," he said. "We've always seen helicopters around here. I don't understand how they didn't see those towers."